Gathering
by Padma
Summary: Very short. Set days after GoF; contains Lupin


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Gathering

It was surprising, thought Albus Dumbledore, considering his distaste for heights, that Remus Lupin should choose to arrive on a broomstick, when he could Apparated just as easily. He was about to be perplexed by this when something even more odd caught his eye; Remus was not alone. Flying behind and just above the good professor was what appeared to be a small, orange-headed woman.

The two brooms touched down in front of Dumbledore and their riders dismounted, the woman doing so with an odd, catlike grace one might not have expected, considering that her flying was only slightly above standard. Remus and the woman moved towards Dumbledore, and upon closer inspection, the orangehead was no woman at all, but a girl of no more than fourteen or fifteen. (Damn, and just when he was beginning to think Remus had found someone to settle down and have those kids he'd always talked about…)

"Headmaster! It's good to see you again, though the circumstances could be better…" Lupin shook Dumbledore's hand warmly and the two exchanged smiles. He didn't look any healthier than usual, but there was something very different in Remus Lupin's eyes now, a sparkle that Dumbledore had not seen since his school days, a light that even the horrid news of Voldemort's return to power had not been able to extinguish. The reason for this was quickly apparent.

Lupin took the hand of the girl, who had been standing silently behind him, and brought her forward. She was as tall as Remus, and despite being frighteningly thin, she was rather attractive. Her orange hair was thick and shining, her features fair and elegant, and her eyes…her eyes were the same deep, clear gray as Remus' and possessing of the same flaming brilliance that suggests that the soul contained behind the eyes is something rare and wild and strong.

Catching Dumbledore's reaction, Remus smiled. "Headmaster, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Channing." His surprise registered on his face as pride and delight registered in Remus' eyes; Channing, regarding both of them, laughed lightly and spoke, with a soft accent unfamiliar to Dumbledore, "It's a pleasure, Headmaster Dumbledore. The stories I have been told…" She laughed again, and Albus managed to stifle his amazement, throw a quick, delighted look at Lupin, and answer her, "I'm enchanted, my dear. We shall have to talk at length, I think. I'm curious to see how the daughter of so fine a person as Remus here has turned out. But now, I think, it would be best for you to go up to the castle and get yourself situated while your father and I have a talk."

She turned and was gone, taking the brooms with her, moving towards the castle with that same sure grace.

~|~

Dumbledore turned to Remus, an eyebrow raised, and Remus laughed. "I've never been so furious in my life as I am with Anna right now. I _understand_ she wanted nothing to do with me—(he grimaced)—but she's _my_ daughter; I had a right to know her, _she_ had a right to a father, for God's sake. If you could hear the things she says about Anna… She found me last summer, you know, just after I left here. I was staying in my parents' old cabin, and one day she just walked up and knocked at the door. When I answered, she held out her hand and said, 'I'm Channing Lupin; I believe you knew my mother, Anna Trent?'"

Both men laughed at this, and after a moment Dumbledore's curiosity was satisfied as Remus continued to speak. "She's fifteen, which amazes me; she's already finished her education…it's all together different on Leera, you know. She stayed with me last summer, and over Christmas and Easter, and this summer…we've made up for so much time already, and we've only started. She says her mother used to tell her she was just like me, and she is in a lot of ways; anyway, she's nothing like Anna. She wants to help us fight, and she's able to is the strange thing—what they taught her on Leera chills my blood, but in a way, that's another thing we've in common… I love her," he said this very quietly and with a far off look in his eyes, "in some ways, that only makes it worse, because I feel twice as awful for not knowing her, for not being there for her…"

His silence stretched to a limit passed comfortable and Albus, seeing the other's pain, changed the subject.

"Fight or no, she can help us; we need all the strength we can manage now. This is a very real threat, Remus, horrible and unlikely as it may seem. Harry—"

"I know," Remus said quickly, "Sirius told me; how is he?"

"Doing well, for now. He's with his aunt and uncle, of course…he has a bit of guilt over Cedric Diggory, I believe. I hope he resolves it. The times ahead will be hard enough without extra burdens."

He paused, giving it a thought, and cast a very pointed look at Remus.

~|~

Comments: See, it really _isn't_ that much. At any rate, please don't flame me, I'm new at this. If you like where it's going, though, you could always drop me a review. (Ya know, encourage the young authors of the world…)

Disclaimer: I own no one except Channing Lupin and Anna. The others are Her Majesty, Queen Rowling's, and I am not getting paid for this.


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